6

I am looking for some information about how to create a custom field type for Joomla 3.7 core custom fields.

Can anyone point me in the direction of a tutorial, an example of anything that may help with the process? I couldn't find official documentation on that.

Please note I am not talking about adding the field to an article, I am talking about creating a new type of field that can be selected from the custom fields component.

I figured it is just a plugin, so I went to copy a core existing one to then expand on that.

However I copied the imagelist, renamed it all to newimagelist, installed all without problem. Created a new field, went into an article, but the newly created field which is just a copy doesn't behave same way. The list dropdown doesn't work. Any ideas?

Improve this question
1

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
2

It seems that fields are simply plugins of type fields. Copy the text folder from /plugins/fields, to a new folder, text2 and change the names of the files inside the text-folder to text2.php and text.xml, and /tmpl/text2.php. In text2.xml there is a reference to the plugin name, update this as well, like:

<files>
    <filename plugin="text2">text2.php</filename>
    <folder>params</folder>
    <folder>tmpl</folder>
</files>

Now you are ready to use the discover - tool in the joomla administrator, to discover the new plugin. Go to yoursite/administrator/ and find the menu extensions/manage/discover. Click discover, the new plugin should be listed. Install the new plugin. Afterwards, find the new plugin in extensions/manage, and enable it.

Now you should be able to add a new custom field for eg. an article, using your brand new, custom, self made field...

There is a lot of info about writing your own plugin, eg:

https://docs.joomla.org/J3.x:Creating_a_Plugin_for_Joomla

Improve this answer
1

You can copy one of the fields in:

\libraries\joomla\form\fields

to:

\components\com_yourcomponent\models\forms\fields

and rename the copied field. Then change data of your new custom filed.

Improve this answer
2
  • What if we want a new field to be available within com_content. If I duplicate a .php file from \libraries\joomla\form\fields and rename it and the contents it does nothing.
    – Eoin
    Aug 8, 2020 at 16:27
  • Ah I see we need to create a plugin
    – Eoin
    Aug 8, 2020 at 16:28
0

From what I understand, the custom field type references a system field type of the same name. So when you copied the custom field plugin and renamed it, it now referenced a system field type that didn't exist.

I'm looking at doing the same thing, but it's a lot more work than just creating a plugin.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.